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North York Public Library
Category: Public Services & Government Libraries Libraries [Edit]
5120 Yonge StNorth York, ON M2N 5N9
Neighbourhood: Willowdale
(416) 733-5575
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
10 reviews for North York Public Library
10 reviews in English
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Review from Vikas I.
Pickering, ON
4/7/2012
I love the North York Public Central Library, they have many floors of books, everything is well laid out.
Perks:
1. Many Floors of books.
2. On the subway line, you do not have to go outside to get here from the Sudbway, it can be a little adventure to find your way to it without going outside, but if you know the area it is fairly easy.
3. They have rooms that they rent to different authors/speakers that hold different talks here, most of which are free.
One of my favourite Personal Finance Authors Derek Foster had a talk here about a year and half ago that I went to attend, the room was nice, had comfortable chairs, the event was free and because of the design of the room it was easy to hear him even though I was sitting at the back and he had no microphone. -
Review from Johnny H.
Toronto, ON
Updated - 5/14/2012
If you are taller than a household garbage bin, you will never find the chairs and desks in North York Public Library comfortable. When I briefly studied at this library last month, I didn't realize they had terrible ergonomics. But upon visiting the library for the second time (and after studying at school libraries, Starbucks', home, study rooms at condos, etc), the difference was noticeable. I seriously thought the desks and chairs were for kids even before I sat down....... That's how low they are.
This isn't good for your posture. You have to bend your back forward a lot further to look down. Even if you're keeping your back straight up, your neck will hurt after looking down for awhile. The chairs are extremely uncomfortable too. It lacks back support and thigh support. After studying for a couple of hours, my lower back hurt so badly. And I had muscle pain in tummy area. My thighs hurt terribly too because I was sitting so low with my knees raised and my thighs were not supported by the chair.
What angers me is how the city spends our tax money. They spend so much money on repaving the roads that didn't even need fixing..... And yet they can't provide decent desks and chairs for students....?
Don't study here unless you know a good chiropractor or yoga instructor.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/9/2012
Good place to study with large tables, spacious environment and quiet atmosphere. Tables are big… Read more »
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Review from Charlotte W.
North York, ON
2/9/2012 2 Check-ins Here
If you ever need a quiet place to study, this library has almost 7 floors of working desks for one to study, read, or do work. I used to frequent this area during my high school days to get tutored - the downstairs level is a quiet only area with individual cubicles.
What I really like about this library is the one piano room where you can practice! I believe its $1 for an hour and it is basically a small room with a piano.
Recently renovated so checkout is now automatic!Listed in: February Food-Free 2012
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Review from Hazel P.
1/24/2012
I love, love, love this library. It's right off the subway line & has floors & floors of books, cd's, dvd's, etc. They have a great selection of multi-lingual materials as well. And of course the students love this place as it has tons of study space. It's been going through renovations, some of which are completed & looks really great. They've automated the book check out system, as well as the return system too. Wifi is free here but really slow!
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Review from Kat K.
6/28/2011 17 Check-ins Here
This branch is probably my favourite branch of the Toronto Public Library System. Mainly, because it's pretty much 6 floors of books, plus huge study hall in the basement.
Currently the HUB is under renovations for the last few months. But I love coming here to browse through their cookbooks sections, which is on the 5th floor.
I normally use this location to pick up my holds, since it is the closest one to my office, but I find their browsery desk people are often quite helpful, in the sense, that if I can't find a book in their catalogue, they are often willing to put in an order, if the book is popular enough and put me on the wait list for it at the same time.
There is a ton of natural light to be found throughout the library, but also they have a huge sheet music collection, in addition to the sound recordings; which can be found on the 2nd fl.
But with the addition of the self-checkout kisoks, you're never really in waiting in line to check out your books for very long, they usually have 6 going at a time, in addition a staff member or two are normally hanging around to help out, if you get stuck.
Their catalogue is, also, extremely user-friendly. I love being able to browse through it online; and when I find books I want to borrow, I usually simply click on the title, then the listing will provide me with the synopsis of the book, in addition to all branches that may have a copy of the book (or how many copies the library (on whole) has on order).Listed in: The Bookworms list
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Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
2/26/2011 7 photos
When I walked by North York Central Library... I didn't realize how huge it is till I walked inside then looked up at floors full of stacks of books!!
The foyer for sure is a sight to behold... with the skylights letting natural sunlight to filter through!
This place is as busy as a mall... but I do feel like I am in one of the biggest bookstores browsing and flipping through all these magazines and books.. the good thing is I can stay as long as I like, never buy anything and no one is going to give me that look!
Tons of outlets, tables, comfy seatings for me to park myself using free WIFI.
Six Floors of reading materials and more... now this is one library that needs a floor directory!Listed in: Libraries!!
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Review from Susan Z.
9/20/2010 2 Check-ins Here
North York Public Library is one of the reasons I never want my parents to move. I love going back home and dropping by the libs. Four stories of books, microfilm, movies, magazines, and stuffs! How I love North York Public Library!
They've got chairs to sit on, people are fairly friendly. There's a computer room where computers are mostly hogged up by kids and unemployed people. Those kids will probably one day be unemployed people as they don't go to school.
I was a minor celebrity here as I was the first person to get North York's copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. My parents went to pick it up for me, and apparently a "crowd" of librarians gathered to see who got it first. They really didn't expect a fobby middle-aged Chinese couple, so my parents explained that their 20-year-old daughter was a huge loser and reserved it as soon as the reserve list opened up. -
Review from ness y.
Toronto, ON
1/21/2009
Note: this review is specifically about the "Withdrawn Book Sale Section" in the downstairs entrance of North York Public Library.
I can't buy another book maybe for another 3 years, but temptation was certainly aroused as I curiously eyed the sign: "Withdrawn Book Sale"
"Withdrawn?" I didn't get it at first. Why would they sell withdrawn books? Maybe they should have named it "Old Book Sale"? But then again, they didn't all look very old. And then there were also videos...
Anyhow, the price list goes:
$1 - book
$2 - video (mostly vhs)
BIG BARGAINS!!!
cash only. -
Review from Stephanie C.
Toronto, ON
1/23/2010
I have a soft spot for this place.
Growing up in North York, I would make regular trips here whenever I needed to do homework, peruse through the history aisles after swimming class, or just needed a home away from home. Fast-forward a couple of years and my move to Downtown Toronto, I've re-discovered how great this library was.
As one of two main reference libraries in the city, North York Central has an excellent collection of reference materials that may be useful to urban planner or a budding genealogist. But unlike Toronto Reference Library, you can borrow books out of this library, unless marked otherwise.
Another aspect I love about this library is its multilingual section. They have a good selection of books, music and movies for the various languages spoken in the city, like French, Cantonese, Russian, Persian, Korean, etc. I come here to pick up French books (or at least order from), since there are few, if any, French bookstores left in the city.
I particularly found their free internet access to be a godsend. I couldn't check my personal email at work so I used my break times to stay connected to the outside world. All of their computers on each floors have free internet access, but check to see which terminal you pick. Some of them are "express" which allots you fifteen minutes, not useful when you're busy chatting away about your love life online. -
Review from Julianna B.
Toronto, ON
8/14/2009
North York Public Library is a palace of books on the subway line. I didn't know a thing about it until I was looking for a few volumes that were only available there. Did everyone else know about this but me? You go to North York Centre on the subway, walk upstairs, and there are five floors of books, including an amazing Canadian History/geneaology area on the fifth floor.
I found staff very helpful when I was researching up there. It's my first real research in that field, and I was a bit lost. One librarian put me onto some supremely useful sources, including a searchable online archive I could access from home. On a different day, another librarian actually brought a favourite book over to me at the photocopier, because he wanted to share it with me, and he thought it might be useful. I mean, how's that for amazingly, wonderfully helpful?
At TRL, I had to wait an hour to be told that they couldn't find the books I'd requested from the stacks, and the rest showed up on the wrong floor. At NYCentral, my requests showed up in minutes.
The library itself looks a lot like the Toronto Reference Library downtown. It feels more closed-in because it's part of a mall, but the ring-shaped floors surrounding a central court and the carpeted staircases are the same.
I don't know why they sequester the YA fiction and half of the graphic novels across the hall at the "teen zone," or whatever it's called. When I was there, the jukebox-filled hangout area had four asian businessmen chatting in it. They've also put a thousand or two novels on the main floor, calling them 'great reads' or something. Are they better reads than everything on the entire fiction floor? You got me. I understand that they're trying to make it accessible, but it seems weird, carving things up into upstairs fiction, downstairs fiction, teen fiction, etc.
On the whole, a great library. I can't believe how much the TPL has to offer people, most of it for free. People should come use it more!Listed in: Toronto Libraries
